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The Artist’s Muse: Do Psychedelics Boost Creativity?
Anecdotal evidence and research point to a connection between psychedelics and creativity.
From 1954 to 1962, Oscar Janiger, an esteemed psychiatrist, invited 100 artists to his therapy room in downtown LA. Over the 10 hour sessions, the artists were provided with paper, a box of art materials, and 100 micrograms of LSD.
Inspired by the sessions, Marlene Dobkin De Rios released a fascinating book about LSD and creativity. In it, she summarised the participants’ experiences:
“Interestingly, all of the artists who participated in Janiger’s project said that LSD not only radically changed their style but also gave them new depths to understand the use of colour, form, light, or the way these things are viewed in a frame of reference. Their art, they claimed, changed its essential character as a consequence of their experience.”
It seems that the artists’ encounters with LSD were transformative. But, as mentioned, Janiger’s research was qualitative and not peer reviewed. So, can psychedelics really enhance creativity?
The Psychedelic Renaissance
Many psychedelic studies in the past decade have focused on the therapeutic effects of these substances. But…
